The Wall Street Journal claims that HTC has problems throughout its supply chain, with claims that suppliers have lost faith in the firm after several lean years.

An anonymous source told the journal that HTC has had particular trouble securing components for the HTC One's unique 'ultrapixel' camera, as it is no longer considered "a tier-one customer" by suppliers.

The firm is also understood to have struggled sourcing the phone's sculpted metal casing.

The source added: "The company has a problem managing its component suppliers as it has changed its order forecasts drastically and frequently following last year's unexpected slump in shipments."

Benjamin Ho, the HTC chief marketing officer, said in a statement that the firm was "working tirelessly with all of our channel partners to ensure that we can fulfil as many [HTC One] orders as possible".

He added: "We will start fulfilling pre-orders by the end of March in certain markets and will roll out to more markets as we approach April."

HTC saw its revenues fall 62% in the final quarter of 2012, and the Taiwanese firm has tried unsuccessfully over the last few years to keep pace with big rivals Samsung and Apple.

The Wall Street Journal suggested that HTC boss Peter Chou may have to step down if the HTC One is not a success, and this delay could prove costly in that regard.

An additional problem for HTC is that the delayed release puts the HTC One in much closer competition with Samsung's Galaxy S4, the new flagship Android device that is expected to sell strongly this year.